


A.W.O.L.

by i_am_pask



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Discrimination, F/M, Fantasy, Gay, Gay Male Character, Love, M/M, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Racism, Royalty, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-07 23:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_pask/pseuds/i_am_pask
Summary: Far in the future, after many mistakes on every country's part, after the War X, the world was divided amongst the six super powers: America, Russia, Britain, Germany, Spain, and France. Medieval times had returned, in a way, but it had evolved to adapt to modern times and technology. People with powers were more common than ever; inevitably, racism and violence had evolved with it.Quickly, people started to separate. Businesses put each other out of business by sabotage, schools shut each other down in the spirit of competition. It was taken too far when science labs wanted to be the first to discover something, anything, and began making false claims towards certain groups. The racism and public violence evolved further, bringing in the old ways. Witch hunts began.Then the first Hue was born and the countries were thrown into disarray, completely disregarding their previous governments' declarations and constitutions in the name of national security.[Just for fun; created this story as a way around art block. Also my first story on here lmao]





	1. Prologue

At Midnight on their fifth birthday, a child receives their destined ability. 85 percent of humanity has one as of 2023. But along with those abilities comes the fear and resentment, the natural human reactions.

You'd think that after the Atomic War, War X, and Cold Blood that the human race would learn something from its past.

The Atomic War nearly wiped out all of humanity on the west side of the world in 2026. The remaining thousands' bodies adapted to the radiation, leading to the survival of the West. Now the West refuses to participate in any conflict across the border whatsoever for fear of extinction. 

Taking place in 2102, War X was the bloodiest recorded war in all of history, resulting in billions of casualties across the globe and only ended with the mass murder of every world leader—then throwing all of the world into anarchy with no leaders. The true details of the war were erased from History during the Excretion—days in which there were no authorities; no one knows how it started, when it started or when it ended.

Cold Blood was the most brutal genocide to take place in the East of the world in 2145. People who were different—of color, homosexual, of religions other than a group's preference, et cetera—were killed in the streets, murdered in their sleep, stabbed in alleys or in restaurants. As long as they died, no one cared. The black market nearly became legal, being the biggest supplier of poison and all sorts of murder weapons.

The human race learned from it—but not the way that the world needed.

2175, a wealthy man who owned a science lab once claimed that blue-eyed people were the most dangerous because he merely had brown eyes. They claimed they had the most powerful abilities and were the most likely to become corrupt and unstable, thus making them criminals.

This lab claim caused mass hysteria and drove everyone to fear their neighbors with blue eyes, as most of the world had blue eyes. The government quickly took action and made everyone with blue eyes suspects of crimes. Eventually, protests for keeping blue eyed "Bluffs" alive began which drove everyone to press for executions without charge.

The government, as corrupt and fearful as it was, denied these requests.

Soon after, terrorist attacks became imminent. Everyone claimed "it was the Bluffs." Blue eyed men and women protested that they were set up, but the government listened to none of it and executed them when they came.

There were a few years of silence until in 2178 the first baby with oddly colored hair was born. Scientists claimed it to be mutations in the hair color alleles due to the radiation, most likely from the bombs that labs were creating all over the world, as adaptations against the radiation in the West were made 152 years ago. Children with oddly colored hair were bullied for being "mutants" and "freaks" and soon they were forced to be removed from the world as well. People took it upon themselves to slaughter their neighbors and friends; gangs formed to protect each other; life in cities were dangerous.

The world experienced so much loss that the human race was endangered by itself. The Royals, the purest blue-blooded families in the World Conference, finally passed a world-wide law that no matter how much fear Bluffs and Hues strike into the people, no one had a right to kill them.

No matter the law, people refused to go near them, so they were forced into hiding.


	2. Sam

The boy with pastel purple hair, icy blue eyes and dark freckles that covered his body let loose a silent sigh through his nose from the end of the dinner table, away from his family. His mother glanced at him from the corner of her eye disdainfully, hardly daring to look at him. 

"Eat."

"'m not hungry," Sam muttered, pushing the plate away.

"We all know where you get that from," she snapped. Everyone at the table knew she wasn't talking about his aversion to eating near his family. All four of them knew she was talking about his hair and eyes.

He was born with it, he couldn't help it. His mom was convinced his father had an affair to give him his genes, but truth be told, no one in the country could look remotely like him, it was extremely rare. Not to mention that both his father and mother were racist (and sexist). He couldn't reach their expectations, but his brothers did.

Brown hair and brown eyes, normal. Sam was forced to wear contacts and wigs to cover up the disgrace of a hair color and eye-color. He didn't understand why blue eyed people were looked down upon. He just thought everyone with an eye color other than blue had an inferiority complex.

"Have a good day at therapy," his father said as Sam stood to dismiss himself.

"Yeah," he replied, feigning a smile. "Good."

His therapy wasn't meeting with a psychiatrist, she was more like a physical therapist.

Every child born with Abilities went to therapy. Sam's therapist was born with the ability to know everything about one's own ability. She was the only one who knew about his real ability, besides himself of course. He was too scared to find out what his parents thought of it.

________

"You don't seem keen on using your abilities today."

He stared at his hands in his lap, refusing to look up. "I'm scared of this one."

"Sam, you have to use it to get a handle on it."

"I can evaporate blood," he deadpanned, staring her in the eye with nearly lifeless brown eyes. She could see how scared he was, but she knew he was a good kid. She wasn't scared.

Her face softened with sympathy. "You know you don't have to wear your contacts and wig around me." He stayed still for a few seconds before pulling the wig off. 

The woman smiled. "You're more like yourself with your real hair. Better?"

He didn't reply for a little. "Sonia, why am I so different?"

She didn't know how to reply. "I'm not sure, Sam. I wish I did."

He frowned and sat back with crossed arms. "I wish I was normal," he muttered.

"Being different means you're special," Sonia said. "You have your own unique traits."

"My mom hates me. I'm pretty sure Peter and Reese are embarrassed of may existence and my dad is a racist, sexist bastard."

She didn't reply and placed a cup of water on the table between them. "We only have a short time, so let's start with a little water."

He glanced up at Sonia, then looked down at the water. Nothing happened, which obviously meant he wasn't trying.

"Sam, I know you're scared," she finally said, "but you need to be able to control it to not be scared of it."

He deflated and looked back to the cup with intense eyes. It steamed a lot so, and rather quickly the water level decreased until there was nothing in the cup.

"Very good Sam," Sonia said, taking the cup and placing an apple on the table. "Let's try this."

"That will take a lot of energy," he muttered, slinking back. "I don't think I can."

"I know you can," Sonia said gently.

"I'm not going to be able to stop."

"I have full confidence that you will."

He reluctantly sat forward and stared at the apple. Sonia could see the skin start to shrivel up, but no more than a slight wrinkle in the fruit's otherwise flawless peel. He kept staring at it, she hoped that he was still trying.

Finally, after almost two minutes of staring, the apple had barely changed. She went to reach for it, but stopped herself and snapped her fingers instead. His eyes snapped up to her and as he stared at her she felt as if she were sitting under an enormous heat lamp. Her body and the air around her felt dry, and it increased quickly.

"Sam," she said calmly, drawing he boy's attention.

He blinked a few times and closed his eyes for a few seconds before dropping his eyes to the floor. "I told you I wouldn't be able to stop."

"But you did," she said. "You did stop, Sam." A few seconds of silence followed until the door banged open.

"Hey Mom, I-" the boy cut himself off and stopped in the doorway. "Oh...sorry."

"It's okay, Ky," Sonia smiled. "What do you need?"

Kyler eyed the boy sitting across from his mom. The boy avoided Kyler's eyes, almost shamefully. He wasn't curious about his hair, his mother taught him that there is no difference.

He was more curious about his age, most kids stopped going to therapy at 13, but the boy in front of Sonia looked about 16 or 17.

"It can wait," he finally answered.

"Sam, this is my son Kyler," Sonia introduced. "Ky, this is Samar Thompson."

"Just Sam, please."

"Nice to meet you Sam," Kyler smiled. "You can call me Ky."

Sonia caught a ghost of a smile on Sam's face and smiled a little. He and her son were getting along.

"I should probably get home," Sam said, standing up. "Not that they'd notice I was gone anyway."

"I'll see you on Thursday, Sam," Sonia stood. "We'll practice some more then."

When Sam left, Sonia slightly deflated. Kyler caught the slight drop of her shoulders.

"Who was he? He's a little old for therapy."

"He has a special Ability. He may need therapy for the rest of his life."

"What exactly is it?" Ky asked.

Sonia smiled at her son. "Doctor-Patient advantage." There was a few seconds of silence while they walked to the kitchen, Kyler use them to piece together how he would word his next question.

"When he left you looked like you didn't want him to go," he noted slowly as his mom sipped on her coffee. "Why not?"

She took a pause to swallow her coffee slowly. "You cannot speak to anyone about this, not at school, not to me later, not even to Sam himself," she said seriously. Kyler sat up straighter as she leant closer, pulling her brown ringlets off, revealing the pastel hair that Kyler had grown up around.

"Sam was taken from me as a baby by the government," she said quietly behind the mug. "When we tried to fight back, to get our son back, Joe disappeared the next day. I was pregnant with you at the time, which is why you've never met your father."

"Oh my gosh," Kyler muttered, jaw-dropped.

"When government found out I would be his therapist, they threatened his life if I told him," she continued. "And yours."

"I have a brother."

A type of sadness crossed Sonia's face. "Kyler, you have to remember that you cannot tell anyone, especially not Sam, got it? It could put all of us in danger."


	3. Run-Aways

Sam sat miserably in the living room, watching his little brother on the floor.

Reese sat on the other side of the room, playing with his toy cars. The boy was only ten, and Sam knew he was already ashamed of him. Peter, his other brother, was 14 and was definitely ashamed of him. Sam felt like the worst oldest brother ever, being born the way he was. It wasn't his fault he was born blue-eyed and mutated. It also wasn't his fault that he wasn't born tall or strong, no matter how much exercise his dad put him through he just couldn't conform himself to his father's expectations. It didn't help that he was closeted either, considering how his father was.

Once his mother walked in, he glanced at her and stood, leaving the room as quick as possible.

Reese saw his brother stand and leave the room as fast as his mother appeared in the door way, and it made him sad. He knew Sam had purple hair, but it wasn't fair that he had to be scared of mama and papa.

"Come on, Re," his mother smiled, gently taking the toy car from Reese's hands. "It's time for bed."

"Mama?" Reese asked, grabbing his mom's attention. "Why don't you smile at Sammy?"

The corner of Mama's mouth twitched. "Because he isn't as precious to me as you."

"That's not nice," Reese pointed out. "You told me that."

"Let's get to bed Reese."

Peter watched from the kitchen, glancing down at his glass of water guiltily. He'd never heard his mother say directly that Sam was less a family member than one of them, and it made his heart hurt for Sam the second he heard it. Peter tried to reflect on all the times his family had been truly happy with each other and drew a blank.

"Come on Peter, it's time to get to bed."

_______

[Sam]

I felt my nose twitch before I finally came to my senses. My eyes fluttered open to a figure standing over me. All my instincts told me to sit up and punch at it, but I couldn't make myself move and convinced myself that I was just in sleep paralysis, until I felt their hand on my shoulder.

"Sam, we need to leave," a woman's voice said. In the dark I couldn't make out the woman's face, but I recognized the voice--except I didn't know from where.

Being half awake, I mumbled a "what for?" and rolled over.

"Come on, Samuel, please," she said desperately. "We have to leave now if we ever want to make it out of here." I finally looked up at her and in the dim lighting of the moon through my window I could see soft brown eyes and light purple hair, tinted silver in the moonlight.

"Woah," I muttered, sitting up slowly. "W--"

"No time," she said hurriedly. "Pack a bag: clothes, water, food, first aid, anything you need to survive. We have to go now."

"Wait, wait, how did you get in my house?" I asked, standing up.

"Your brothers let me in, now let's go!" She hissed.

I peered behind her at my brothers. Peter smiled shyly. They seemed to know something I didn't, and I suddenly had an appreciation for them that I never could've guessed for what, but I knew I had to go with the woman.

I packed a bag; stuffing clothes, food, water, anything I could think of into it and hefting it onto my shoulder.

"I still don't know why we have to leave," I muttered to her.

"I said I'd explain on the way," she said, standing by the door. I turned back, seeing my brothers watching me. They gave nervous waves, then snuck back into their bedrooms before our parents could wake up.

When I rejoined the woman by the door, she had me press tightly to the wall of my house and sneak around the back, to stay off the roads and out of camera view.

"They'll be coming for you around six A.M." She seemed to be muttering more to herself than me. "That's not nearly enough time to get out of the city."

"If it's not enough time then why don't we wait until tomorrow morning?" I asked.

"Because they'll know," she replied. "They'll be on higher alert and they'll have patrols and guards."

"Know what?" I asked, grabbing her arm. "Listen the only reason I followed you is because Reese and Peter looked like I needed to go. Just because you look like me doesn't mean--"

She cut me off by putting her palm against my mouth, then pulling her hair back into a tight, professional looking bun in one swift movement, like she'd done it many times before. I recognized the style and instantly knew who I was talking to.

"Sonia?"

"Yes," she said. "Now is not the time to explain, and I promise I will once we are out of this place. You need to trust me, because they will not wait."

I nodded, glancing back at my home and following her while crouching behind hedges and trees.

______

The sun had risen and set three times and I had no idea where we were. I was exhausted, hungry, and I still didn't get an explanation on why Sonia suddenly looked like me and was trying to remove me from the city. We were dredging along a dirt road, staying hidden behind the trees for hours.

"Can we rest for two minutes?" I asked, stumbling over myself with exhaustion. We hadn't slept since the first day because Sonia claimed we had to keep moving before the government found us.

She stopped, glancing down the road both ways for a minute or two, then finally nodded and sat down. I sighed in relief and sat heavily on the forest floor. I didn't care about the stones or twigs impaling my legs, I only cared about the relieved strain off my feet.

"We don't have much farther to go," Sonia said, catching my attention. "The city borders are only a few miles from here, but there will be guards at every mile marker. They know we're trying to leave."

"Why are they after us?" I asked, desperately trying to understand what was going on. "I've been following you with blind faith, but I don't even know why we're leaving."

"We're leaving because I told my son something I shouldn't have," she said. "And now he is gone, they would have taken you as well."

"What..." I trailed off, hearing blood pounding in my ears. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him about you," she said. "I should have known it wouldn't be alright to tell him, they knew I broke the rules and told someone so they took him."

"What about me?" I asked. Sonia watched me for a second. I noticed my hair was just a few shades darker than her's.

"When you were born, you were taken away from me as a baby," she said. "My husband tried to fight back, to keep you, but the royals made both you and him disappear. I had to raise Kyler alone when he was born. They threatened my life, Kyler's life and your life if I told anyone...and I told Kyler."

"So...Kyler's my brother?" I asked. Sonia nodded. "And my father is..."

"Gone," she finished, almost shortly. "My husband was taken from me because he tried to keep you, so the royals made sure no one could speak about it. We're leaving so that doesn't happen to us."

I stayed silent, staring at my folded hands. From behind us, in the forest, a twig snapped and the underbrush rustled, as if stuck in constant movement.

"They're here," Sonia muttered fearfully, standing up.


	4. The Wall

Instead, a girl fell out from the bushes. She was dark skinned with dark, tight, corkscrew curls that reached below her shoulder blades and a tattoo branded her left shoulder. She had a belt with knives tucked under it.

"Please help me," she whimpered. "P-please-"

"Hey, Hey," I said, crouching next to her. "It's okay, I'm listening."

"I-I overheard t-hat you're leaving," she sobbed. "P-please take m-me with y-you, I-I'll help you!"

Sonia crouched next to the girl. "Calm down, it's okay." She managed to bring her sobbing to shuddering breaths. "Tell us who you are and why you need to leave."

"M-my name is Jula," she said, taking another deep shuddering breath. "I-I'm the...only BM Family member left."

"What's BM?" I asked, glancing at his my mother, who gave me a look that said she didn't have a clue either.

"I don't have normal blood," she said, ignoring my question. "It's not red."

"What is it then?" Sonia asked. Jula's nose twitched, but she pulled out one of her knives. She pressed the point to her forearm and cut a line across her arm. Dark, nearly black metallic blood oozed from her palm, dripping down her elbow.

"I-It's black," Jula said. "Black Moon is the name my father created for it. My father and sister were taken by the royals for experimentation, my mother and I escaped the raid. Along the way to leaving the city, my mother was captured by the royals while scavenging. I managed to escape only because my parents never got registration papers for me when I was born. They don't know I exist."

I watched Sonia for her answer. She was thinking, long and hard about it. "Your ability is to manipulate minerals," Sonia said, nodding. "I think you can stay."

I grinned and looked at Jula. She looked as if she didn't know whether to feel elated or creeped out.

I leaned forward. "Her ability is knowing what a person's ability is by looking at them," I said.

"And what's yours?" She asked.

I could feel my jaw clenching. "It's probably safest if you don't know."

Sonia looked around. "We need to leave. We've been here too long."

_____

We crouched behind a boulder, only meters from the city borders. A large-nearly six meters high-wall stood between us and the forest. Once we got past the wall and miles away, we would be home-free.

"How do we get past?" I asked, watching my mother's calculating eyes.

"I don't know," she finally said. "Everything I can think of is an incredibly dumb idea."

"Through it," a voice whispered on Sonia's right, making us all jump a foot in the air and whirl around. A guy with black hair hanging over his eyes and black eyes with a blank expression sat next to her.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Jula asked.

"I'm Reskdan," he said monotonously. "I've been waiting for you. I'm here to help you escape the city, I've helped a lot of people cross the border."

Sonia muttered something I couldn't hear under her breath and Reskdan gave her a warning look.

"We have about 30 seconds until the next patrol passes. Once they do, make a run for the wall. You--" he pointed at Jula who blinked. "will have to make a hole in the Wall. It's going to be difficult, The Wall is nearly a foot thick, but you'll do it."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked. "If something goes wrong--"

"Nothing will go wrong," he said snappily. "This is the way it works out with minimal casualties."

"Minimal?!"

"Now's your chance, go!"

Without a second of hesitation, Sonia grabbed us both and ran for the wall. I studied Jula's ability as she used her hands to rip apart the minerals of the rock wall and move them. Slowly the rock wall started to disappear. Obviously she had not had a lot of practice with breaking apart minerals. Sweat beading her forehead as she concentrated. I looked at Sonia, panicking. It was taking too long.

Reskdan sighed and joined them at the wall, "We have exactly a minute until the next patrol comes by."

"I'm...w-working...on it!" Jula said, struggling.

"Sam," Sonia said, "She won't be done in time. I need you to promise me that you'll find and release Kyler, okay?"

"W-what are you going to do?" I asked.

Sonia smiled, patting my cheek. "I'm going to give you an advantage." And like that she was, she was running off towards the next patrol guards.

Reskdan grabbed my shoulder before I could run after her. "She will survive, we need to focus on the Wall."

I felt the same sensation I had every time an old man passed on in my neighborhood. I received another power. I was relieved that it was not Sonia's. Despite the feeling of guilt of stealing another's power, I grinned a little. "Move over Jula, I'm going to help." As quickly as she had moved out of the way, an enormous hole was bored through the wall.

"Woah," Jula whispered. "So your power is to shoot acid from your hands?"

I pursed my lips, lowering my hands. "Something...like that..."

"No time to debate, the patrol is--"

"Stop!" All three of us turned before running through the cramped hole in the wall.

Reskdan sighed at himself from behind me, but I didn't feel keen enough to ask why as we were about to be killed.

Once we were through the hole, I looked back to see someone following us.

"Jula, the hole!" I yelled, but she was already on it. The guard had already passed through and charged at Jula, only to be tackled by Reskdan. Jula closed her eyes with her arms stretched out towards the hole. Two more guards were crawling through just as she reformed the hole, trapping them encased in stone.

I winced as I felt the powers of all three men absorb into my body. I had received five total and I didn't want to receive any more, but I couldn't help it. It was automatic.

"Four people died today," I muttered. I was relieved when I found that two of the ones I had just gotten were harmless, one was healing and one was producing glycerin. "How many more will die if this keeps up?"

"I do not know," Reskdan said. "But we must keep moving. They'll be calling backup."

An explosion sounded and we all jumped, turning to see part of the wall blown up. I half expected Sonia to run through, but instead we saw someone else. A guy with dark hair, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans with a leather pack ran past them.

He caught a glimpse of the three of us standing there dumbly. "Hey, I'd run if I were you!" He yelled as a horde of guards charged after him.

Jula, without needing any provoking, closed the hole the guy had created, trapping at least fifteen guards on their side of the wall and the rest on the other. 

Immediately, when the guards noticed us standing there, they split from the group chasing the guy and charged us. That's when we took their cue to run. Fortunately for us, we were closer to the forest than the guards. Unfortunately for us, we had to get through the forest quickly. We ran like Hell itself was chasing us.


	5. Cafe

[Callan]

I sat in my booth at the cafe by myself, silently people-watching while sipping on my iced coffee. They had no idea how lucky they were, to be able to roam around freely and not have to live with my father or mother, or my duties as the Prince of this god forsaken country. All I wished for was a normal life, without my Royal Duties.

I wanted to make friends, stay out late at parties, try new activities.

"Can I get you anything else?" I looked over at the waiter standing next to me. I felt my chest constrict at his blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He had a small scar over his eyebrow yet he held a smile to rival an angel's on his lips.

I nearly forgot to breathe, let alone respond. The guy was gorgeous. "Uh, could I just have a chocolate croissant?"

"Of course," he smiled, disappearing again. I was kind of glad, as I would have made a total idiot of myself.

\--

After a few days of entering the cafe, with and without my siblings, the guy had started speaking with me and drawing small laughs from me before he was pulled away to other customers. When he left, he always left me smiling. It was nice, being able to talk to someone real for once. Not that my siblings weren't real, just talking to a normal person with normal responsibilities like a job and taxes and school was just...refreshing.

This time, as I made my way to the cafe, was a day in which I stormed out of my home in absolute fury. I found myself at the front door of the cafe, dressed in only jeans and muscle tank top that drooped low enough to expose almost my entire torso—my "only in the presence of my siblings" casual wear. I was too angry to be self-conscious.

I sat down, not intending to order anything and stared out the window like I always did. At that moment I just wanted to be away from it all. If I could I would have travelled to America and stay as far away as possible. The idea of people living as freely as they did started to irritate me as I watched them. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my feed. I did not want to acknowledge anything, I wanted to hide in an area where no people were around to remind me of the free life I would never have; where I was away from the palace and, most importantly, away from my parents.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Prince Grumpy?" I jumped at the title and turned to see it was only the waiter. "Care to order or are you going to brood like that forever?"

"If it were an option I would order a tall glass of isolation from the world," I mumbled, letting my head fall onto the table.

"Sounds serious," he said, placing himself in the seat in front of me. "I may not be able to offer isolation but I can offer my ears. I'm Quin, by the way."

"Cal," I said with a slight smile. "So far you're the only one willing to listen."

"Well, Prince Doom and Gloom," he said, leaning forward. "I am all ears."

"Oh, Quin, you're in for a wild ride."

\--

"Wow," he muttered, leaning back. "That...really was a wild ride. Have they...ever heard of modern times?"

"All I want is a normal family," I said disdainfully.

"So you have been basically betrothed to a girl you've never met and you suddenly came out to get them off your back," he reiterated, more to himself. The way he said 'betrothed' sounded as if he knew exactly who I was. "and they threatened to disown you for what? Their image? Status? I don't understand."

"My siblings are the only good ones," I mumbled, falling against the table with my head in my arms. "Even then they're still evil because they're my siblings so they always will be evil."

I felt his hand on my head, giving me a sympathetic gesture that only made my heart flutter a bit. 

"If it's any consolation, I haven't seen my parents since I was 13," he said, making my head pop up in curiosity. "They left me at some restaurant and never came back. Haven't seen them since, eventually I ran into the manager of this cafe and she gave me a home until I was old enough to care for myself."

"That's...awful..." I sighed. "Unfortunately that makes me feel worse for complaining."

"Don't. Annah's been more like a mother to me in five years than my real parents were in 13," he shrugged.

"Quin!" We both heard from the kitchen. "You're off your shift now, why are you still here?!"

"I'm talking, leave me alone!" He yelled back, taking his apron off and folding it over the counter. "We can talk more elsewhere."

I nodded, following him out the door. The cool breeze drew attention to my nearly exposed torso and that's when I began to grow self conscious. He did not seem to notice my sudden shifting as he led me to secluded area in the park, in which we sat on a bench. Instead of continuing our conversation, we started off with some light hearted banter and shared memories from our childhoods or at least what I could share with him. I'd be lying had I said this was not what I fantasized about only a few weeks ago. Something normal...with a normal person.

\--

"Your Majesty," a guard said, bowing before my father. "A group of rogues escaped the city."

The look on my father's face was all too familiar. "Who?"

"Four People. Three men and a woman, the woman is unidentifiable, the men are known as Samuel Thompson, Reskdan Caverentes and Cadier deAngelo."

"Then hunt them," my father hissed angrily.

"If I may continue my report, Majesty," the guard said respectfully. My father gestured for him to continue. "We have encountered a hue—a woman who seems to have been with the others. We've captured her a few times but she has escaped every time."

"I want them all caught," my father growled.

"Father, why are they not allowed to leave the city?" I asked. "Would it not be wise to let them leave normally? What harm can they do to the kingdom if they are not there?"

"They could corrupt the outside kingdoms and conquer ours," my father growled, whirling on me. The air around me grew thick, warning me to say one more thing. I stayed quiet. After the meeting concluded, I left the building quietly and found myself back at the cafe. I found my sister and brother there, laughing together. When Olivia noticed me she waved me over and I sat down, slumping in my seat.

"What's up with you?" She asked, pushing my perfectly done up hair back over my face how I liked it. I rubbed my face with my hands exhaustedly.

"I don't want to do this anymore, Olivia," I said. "I don't want to be King, I don't want to deal with our father, I don't want to live like this anymore."

"What happened?" Sebastian asked.

"Five AWOLs escaped the city and our father is pissed off," I said. "He ordered a man hunt for them all."

"He can't just demand that people trying to leave the city come back, people have their own rights under the delegation of his law," Olivia frowned, I started to say something, but then her cellphone rang. She answered it and ushered Sebastian outside the cafe without another word. I knew it was our mother's head of communication and I sunk into the seat, falling against the table. She'd be calling me next. It never ended.

"Hey Cal," Quin said, appearing behind me, looking chipper and beautiful as always. "It's been a few weeks, it's good to see you're alive."

I grinned weakly at him. "Hey."

"You okay? You're not looking so hot."

I contemplated a lot of things just then. I looked up at his face, he looked genuinely curious about my life. "No, not feeling it either. Mind meeting me later today? I...need to get some things off my chest."

"Sure thing," he grinned. "I get off at 5 o'clock."


	6. Hiding

[Sam]

We ran through the woods for what seemed like hours. Reskdan stopped, holding out his arms to stop us as well. The fourth passenger ran ahead, before noticing we stopped.

"What are you doing? We have to go!"

"They're not following us anymore," Reskdan stated, opening his eyes. "They're converging at the end of the forest to catch us. The King ordered a manhunt for us all."

"That's really bad, we have to move," he said anxiously. "They'll show up any minute."

"They won't," Reskdan reassured. "We have at least two hours."

"Then let's take that time to put as much distance between us and them," he hissed.

"Okay, okay," I said, stepping forward. "Let's calm down and think about the situation. Let's weigh our options first."

"If we run we are more likely to be caught by the barrage waiting for us," Jula said. "But it gives us a chance to put distance."

"If we hide we're more likely to be caught by the manhunt," the guy said, looking around anxiously. "But if we get away with it, the manhunt is less likely to double check places they've already looked. That less likely meaning they double check everything and they just might forget one."

"Running gets us caught," Reskdan said. "There's a place just north of here where we can hide. The manhunt checks there first every time, we wait until they check there and hide after they leave, and get out when they pass by a second time."

"How do you know that will work?" The guy demanded, whirling on Reskdan, "Why am I even listening to any of you? I don't know you."

"If you want to survive you have to trust me," Reskdan said blankly.

"Let's stop fighting and go with Reskdan's plan," I said. "It's worked before."

"I'm running. You guys can get caught," the guy said, turning and starting off.

"I wouldn't go that way," Reskdan warned. "There's at least five guards heading towards us from all directions. You'll speed up their pace if you leave."

"What makes you so sure?" he grumbled.

"My power," Reskdan said vaguely. "We have to wait exactly 32 minutes before we can leave this place. All other options get us caught." He looked over at Jula and I. "I'd make yourselves comfortable."

I glanced at Jula and the three of us sat on the forest floor. I looked up at the guy standing against a tree grumpily.

"Can we at least introduce ourselves before getting ourselves killed?" I asked. The guy looked over and his eyes landed on me. I watched him as he eventually joined us on the ground with a huff. "My name's Sam," I said. "You can already tell why I'm escaping."

"I'm Jula," Jula said. "My family and I escaped a testing facility. I'm the only one that made it out alive."

Reskdan hesitated. "Reskdan," he said. "I'm only really running because the guards saw me helping you."

"Cadier," Cadier said, leaning back on his hands. "No particular reason I'm leaving. I don't want to be in the city anymore."

We all sat in silence for a while. "Does anyone have anything interesting to talk about?" Jula asked.

"Reskdan, you seem to know what's going on," I said, drawing his attention. "D-does Sonia...?"

"I don't know," he said after a short pause. "I wish I could tell you." I pursued my lips and fell silent.

"Anything else?" Jula asked.

"If you do have something to say I'd make it quick," Reskdan said, calmly. "Our noise sped up their pace. We'll be surrounded in less than five minutes if we don't move North-West in exactly 47 seconds."

"What are you, a fucking timer or a compass?!" Cadier demanded.

"Just move!"

\---

Reskdan held out his arms, stopping us all.

"There's no one there," Cadier said exasperatedly. "Let's go—"

"Wait," I hissed, grabbing his sleeve before he could go. He whirled around at me but I glared at him, warning him to touch me.

"I hear something," Jula said quietly. We were silent, listening for the noise that Jula heard. Suddenly she grabbed Reskdan's arm. "Sniffers."

"What are yo—?" I put a hand over Cadier's mouth, keeping him quiet. He glared at me but I ignored him. I was getting tired of his constant questioning. If you're still alive, don't question. I learned that in school. Reskdan nodded at Jula, who looked mortified.

"We can't hide from sniffers," she whispered desperately. "They'll find us."

"That's why we have him," Reskdan said, jabbing his thumb at me. My eyes widened.

"Absolutely not," I hissed.

"You have to or else we get caught," Reskdan said calmly.

"I'm not using it on anyone," I whispered. "None of them."

"You don't need to," he assured. "Acid creates a potent smell when it melts organic matter. You just need to create enough of a diversion to lead them away from our trail, long enough for us to hide and lead them in a direction not near us."

"So just melt a bunch of leaves and sticks?" I asked.

"A whole tree might be needed," Reskdan said. "But in essence, yes."

"You have to do it, Sam," Jula said. "At least for your mom."

I thought about it, then nodded, releasing Cadier. "Okay, fine. Give me exact details."

\--

I put my sweatshirt hood up and ran quietly through the woods, touching my hands on random trees and on the ground. A trail that led the opposite direction of Jula, Cadier and Reskdan. I heard voices and footsteps following me, getting faster. I could only imagine them saying "they're this way!"

At the checkpoint, I threw as much acid from my hands as I could create at a small group of trees, hoping to god that it hit the target and hid behind the tree trunk closest to me. At that moment I was eternally thankful for my size to hide inside a hollowed tree trunk.

"It's fresh," a voice said only meters from my location. "They're close."

"Which direction?"

There was an inhuman grunt and I heard the padding of feet hitting the forest floor drawing closer. I pressed myself against the inside of the tree, squeezing my eyes shut and bracing for them to find me.

My heart was pounding so hard in my chest as I heard the footsteps just pass by the tree I was behind. I could've sworn it was loud enough to be heard. A shuddered breath escaped my lungs and I clamped my hand over my mouth and held my breath. There was a sudden movement and dead silence. I closed my eyes again, waiting for the moment that I'd been found. My heart beat was deafening in that moment. The sound of sniffling felt right next to my ear and I had to suppress a whimper of fear.

"C'mon you fucking animal," the male voice said. "You pointed this way."

The footsteps receded, following the trail of scorched trees.

I counted the seconds in my head, like Reskdan told me to and bolted for their location on the 13th second. I got back to where they were and slipped into the cave hidden behind the roots of a large oak tree.

I fell against the wall and finally let out my breath that I'd been holding.

"Good job Sam," Jula smiled. "That power of yours is so cool."

"I wouldn't say that," I said shortly, looking down at my hands. I had just gotten the power and I was already using it. Normally I would've waited weeks until I saw Sonia again to use it with her. The idea of getting new powers and not having someone to teach me how to use it was absolutely petrifying. The thought of Sonia made me sad, I didn't know if she was alive. I wasn't in the area to receive her power if she did die. I just didn't know.

"Don't look so happy, Sammy," Cadier said from across the cave. "You only let yourself get dangerously close to the scariest, deadliest weapon the royals have to lead them away from us."

"I didn't think I'd use my power like this," I said after a beat of silence, skillfully avoiding the subject of my real power. They'd be terrified if they knew.

"In all seriousness, thank you," Cadier said, not meeting any of our eyes. "I'm sorry about being temperamental earlier. I'm just anxious and running from my past."

"Aren't we all?" I asked lightly. He smiled tersely.

"We should know what each of our powers are to know what we have at our disposal," Jula finally spoke up. "I'll start. I have the power to manipulate any earthen mineral to my will. It's easier to create with them than destroy them."

Cadier looked over at her for a second. "I can make almost anything explode. I turn things into time bombs."

We all looked to Reskdan, who looked around at us. "Pass."

"You can't, we just said ours. The only hint you gave us was that you were sure we'd make it if we stayed put because of your power," Cadier said. "What is it?"

There was a long silence. I thought he was actually going to answer. "It's too dangerous for anyone to know."

"Oh shut up with that," I grumbled. "I can probably guess exactly what it is just based on the way you say things. It's not that dangerous."

"Do tell," Jula said, leaning forward.

I looked at Reskdan with a raised eyebrow. "It's foresight isn't it? You can see into the future?"

There was a long pause where I expected him to walk out the cave and leave us. "Only 24 hours ahead. I've gotten people killed with it."

"Foresight is freakin' cool," Cadier said. "What makes it dangerous? Sammy's power is way scarier."

"If only you knew the hell of it," I mumbled under my breath. No one heard, thank god.

Reskdan rolled his eyes at Cadier. "Foresight makes you a formidable ally, but a targeted enemy. Destroy the one that bears the information and you destroy the whole fleet."

"Yo, Shakespeare," Cadier said blankly. "Take the fucking compliment."

I grinned a little at them. I knew at some point they'd find out the truth about me, I just didn't want that to be now. Friends were good to have, no matter how short a time you've known them. Especially in this situation.


	7. The Truth

[Callan]

"Alright, I'm here. What's this about?" Quin asked, sitting heavily on the bench next to me.

I shifted. "So we have been friends for a little while, right?"

He smiled. "Mhm. My third and currently my only."

"And you will believe what I tell you no matter how crazy it is?"

"Absolutely."

I watched him for any sign of faltering, a sign that I shouldn't tell him anything. I saw nothing. What I saw was nothing but trust and willingness.

"If I told you I was actually a Prince and the first heir would you hate me?" I asked quickly, bracing myself for whatever it was to come.

He blinked blankly at me for a few seconds. "I'm sorry...what?"

"Prince Callan Joshua Pierson the third, first heir to the throne," I said disdainfully, looking at him from underneath the curtain of my hair, almost shamefully. "In the flesh."

"So you're the Prince who's going to be crowned King after the current King passes?" he asked slowly. "And you're...this hot?!"

A blush crossed my face. "Is that the first thing that comes to your mind?" I asked dumbly.

"It's just...so much easier to believe that you're the Prince, all the stories you told me and all the time we spent together I could never imagine your family being normal."

"They're far beyond normal," I grumbled.

"Wait, wait, wait. I still have to wrap my head around the fact that the Queen birthed you," he said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry I can't get over the fact that the King and the Queen made you."

"You just got done telling me that you couldn't imagine something different."

"No, no, it's more the fact that you're so damn attractive and they're not," he hissed. I felt my blush darken. "Seriously, who do you get it from? Because it's not them."

"My parents are their own kind of lovely," I said defensively. "They're just...extremely obnoxious and hate that I live like this."

He laughed. "I know you and the rest of your family's names have been out in the world for a while now, just your faces haven't. What are your siblings' names again?"

\--

"Prince Sebastian," I introduced, indicating to my little brother. The boy nodded.

"That's right, I remember your name because my middle name is Sebastian," Quin stated. "Nice to meet you—uh...my Prince."

"Do not do that, please," Sebastian said, holding out a fist. "Just Bas."

Quin looked up at me for help, but I shrugged. My brother was 'young and rebellious' as my mother said. Quin met my brother's fist with his own in a fist bump and I watched my brother's eyes brighten significantly at the action, nearly tearing up.

"Now, to introduce you to my sister," I said, taking his arm and dragging him away from the 10 year old's sudden interest in him. I led him down the hall and knocked on my sister's door. I could hear music from inside and opened the door slightly to peek in. "Olivia."

My sister looked up from whatever she was drawing and quickly hid it under her white and gray, silk blankets. I didn't ask, she was 15 and allowed to do her own thing. "Yes?"

"I would like you to meet someone," I said, not entering her room out of courtesy of her privacy. She jumped off her bed as I pulled Quin into her view. The guy had no idea where to look first, he was intrigued by every little detail of the palace and didn't even notice my sister standing before him until I nudged his side with my elbow.

"Nice to meet you," Olivia said regally. "My name is Princess Olivia Elizabeth the Second."

"Nice to meet you, uh...Highness?" Quin said, though it sounded more like a question and gave me a side-eye glance for help. He didn't know how to react, and it was incredibly adorable. I smiled at him. "Agh, too much royalty all at once," he finally said, running a hand through his hair and making it positively messy, although I found it endearing. He smiled shyly at me. "Where's the bathroom again? I know you told me earlier but I forgot."

I pointed down the hall. "Third door on your left." He nodded his thanks and walked down the hall.

My sister stood next to me, pulling my shoulder down to whisper in my ear. "He's extremely hot, I'd hit that if I were you."

Heat rose to my cheeks and I spun around, clamping a hand over her mouth. "You are 15, you should not be saying these things to me."

"Are you going to tap that or not?" She asked. "He's a keeper so if you don't, I will."

"Olivia, you are four years younger than him!"

\--

"Wow, I can't believe I'm in the fucking castle," he said, looking around my room in disbelief. "This is unbelievable, it's...gorgeous."

"It's gorgeous to most people but when you live in it, it's quite boring," I said, leaning back on my hands, against my bed.

He nodded, still looking around in awe before a calculating look crossed his face.

"I could've sworn there were four of you," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"There was," I said sadly. "My Father forbids we speak of him. Pretend he doesn't exist. He even pretended to not know his name on live television, which set the media off on a rampage and then everyone forgot his name."

"That's some deep shit," he said, sitting next to me. "What happened?"

"Ezra was...he was first in line to receive the throne and everyone was so happy about it. He was a natural leader, he was handsome, regal...like the perfect royal. One night I heard him and my father arguing in the conference room. I couldn't really hear what it was about, but Ezra sounded extremely scared."

"Oh god, if he's as good a person you say he is than that's got to be some bad shit," Quin said.

I nodded, looking down at my feet sitting flat on the floor of my bedroom. "The next morning I went to ask Ezra what had happened. He ran away, leaving only a note on his desk for me," I continued, pulling said note out of my bedside drawer.

His hurriedly scrawled, but still quite neat, handwriting was obviously perfected from hours and hours of practice with the language teacher. Hours of hand cramps and repetitive writing. I was going through that now.

I handed Quin the note.

'Cal, I am so very sorry to leave like this. You told me before that you did not want to be king, and I wish I could stay to take the burden off of you. I wish I could stay to protect you and our siblings from our parents. There is so much I wish to do for you, Liz, and Bas, but what our father had planned for the world through me was cruel and unforgivable. I did what I could but he would not listen. He will to you.

A word of advice before I leave and you all forget my name or face; harden yourself. If Father punches you, punch him back. Remember: when you are the King, your word is Law. I know you can do this, you are stronger than me. If you can not than I most certainly could not.

I will miss you, Kiddo.

I love you,   
E.'

"Woah, that was heavy," Quin breathed. "He seems like a genuine guy. I wonder what scared him so bad."

"I did some digging," I said, looking up at him. The terror I felt towards my own father was stirring just below the surface, I'd always feel it when I was in the same room as him but I couldn't let it show. "I figured out what he was planning. Luckily he disbanded it after Ezra disappeared."

Quin looked at me gently. "By the look on your face, I shouldn't believe a word of that."


	8. On the Road

[Sam]

It'd been about a week since we'd managed to evade the "sniffers." The name Jula gave them were not near the depiction I'd had from her reaction; when we asked Jula what they were, she shuddered and shut down—a very clear sign that they were deadly and terrifying and no one should go near them. Which was just what we needed.

Once we got a distance away and set up camp (which was more like a clearing in which we had shelter), we made a habit of setting up routes and schedules for resource collecting. We were living poorly on minimal food, but we had water, shelter and warmth. We sat around the fire that Reskdan had started, warming ourselves against the cold night air.

"Anyone have any stories?" Jula asked miserably. "It'd be great to lighten the mood right about now."

I shook my head. "My life before this was Hell on Earth." Resk just grunted in agreement.

"There was one time my brother and I were playing some game he made up based off of tag and ended up scaring me so bad my reflexes punched him in the face," Cadier said nonchalantly.

"Not the type of story I was expecting from you," Jula said with a bit of a grin.

"I cried for days, I felt so bad for punching him."

"So you do have a soft spot," she said smugly.

"Why do you say that like you're about to do something horrible to me?" Cadier asked cautiously.

"What were your families like?" I asked, drawing both their attention.

Cadier raised an eyebrow. "Mostly insane. My parents were awful. I was disowned a long time ago, been on my own since I was little."

"I loved my family," Jula said. "My mother was like a saint, she always put us over herself. Sometimes we had to make her eat because she would refuse for fear of my brother and I not eating enough. My father was always the one who went out to hunt and scavenge. They were the best." I nodded, reflecting on my past. "What about you, Sam? What was your family like?"

I stayed silent for a while, holding my knees against my chest and leaning against the wall. "I was given to the wrong family. My mom hated my guts because of my hair and eyes. She never smiled at me, hugged me, and barely acknowledged that I existed. My dad was the same way, except he was also a racist, sexist, homophobic asshole who hated me because I have a hard time building muscle and no matter how much exercise he put me through I couldn't conform to his views. My brothers were ashamed of my existence because of the shit drilled into their heads since they were born. My therapist, Sonia, turned out to be my real mom. My real dad had tried to keep me when the government came to take me away and they made him disappear as well. Sonia was pregnant with my real brother, Kyler, at the time and when they found out she was going to be my therapist, the government threatened all three of our lives if she said anything to anyone. She told Kyler because he had asked and they took Kyler and gave her a free pass because she was a therapist to a lot of people, but they were coming for me next so she threw down her wig and grabbed me and we were trying to leave the city until she disappeared during the fight with the guards at the front gate."

Dead silence was the only thing I heard. I looked up to see all of them jaw dropped.

"So sorry if I don't have any fun stories," I muttered shyly.

"I think you need a hug," Jula said, throwing her arms around me. I didn't know how to react to it and looked over at Cadier or Resk for help. They shrugged and I hesitantly and awkwardly pat her back.

From a few meters away, a thud could be heard. Like something hitting the ground. I used my acid to put the fire out and everyone else scrambled to the sides of the cave, hiding against the wall. A figure approached the opening of the cave. It was a single person, we could easily overrun them.

They stumbled against the roots as if bracing them self. Their figure was feminine, then falling into the cave and hissing in pain and grunting a "shit!"

I recognized the voice.

"Sonia?"

She sat up alarmed, looking around for a second. "Sam?"

In the light of the moon I could see her light purple hair white-washed silver. It was choppily cut short and messy beyond belief. Resk grabbed my arm. I looked over at him and he shook his head but I ignored him.

"You're alive," I muttered sitting next to her.

"Oh thank god you're safe," she sighed, drawing me in for a hug. Again, I didn't know how to react to it. "Are you alone?"

"No," Jula said, stepping out from her hiding place and sheathing her knife.

"So you have acid I see?" Sonia asked, shifting so her injured arm wasn't leaning on the floor. That's when I furrowed my eyebrows. Sonia was the one who purposefully took a man's life to give me that power.

"You're not Sonia," I said darkly, my hands suddenly dripping in acid. "Who are you?"

"What? Sammy, I'm your—"

"Sonia doesn't call me that," I said. "And Sonia knew for a fact that acid is my power. I'll ask one more time. Who are you?"

There was a long pause before her form started to deform.

"Alright boys, time to go!" Jula cried, dashing out of the cave. Cadier and Resk followed her, but my exit was blocked by the six-foot-five, enormously muscular man standing in front of me.

"You're not going anywhere, hybrid."

I stepped back, away from the advancing figure. His voice sounded anything less than human. In the shadow of the moon, his silhouette was almost animal like. He wasn't a sniffer, that was for sure. Whatever he was, he was horrifying.

"Please don't make me use this against you," I whispered. He still advanced and the corner of my mouth twitched with apprehension. If he had to die the least I could do was make it painless.

Acid it is, I thought reluctantly.

\--

"Honestly you're such a badass," Jula reveled as we made our way through the forest, waiting for Resk to find a new hideout. "You just walked right out of there with barely a scratch! How much acid did you use? I could hear it! Come on, you've gotta tell me!"

"A lot," was all I said.

"Man, that's not helpful. I want to see you in action next time," she said.

"It's nothing to see. You really don't want to," I said. She opened her mouth to ask why but I beat her to it. "It smells really bad when it melts skin."

"Sounds like a good time to me," Cadier said, crossing his arms. "I'll be watching next time."

"Let's focus on hoping that there isn't another time."


	9. Tensions

[Callan]

Ever since I'd told Quin the truth, we'd been meeting up more and more and became closer in the past weeks. My sister was on my ass about getting together with Quin, which bothered me because my sister was only 15.

"Hey your highness, you're dozing off," Quin said, waving a hand in front of my face. "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah. Thinking about my sister."

"What, another one run away?" He asked, resuming the video game. I turned back to the screen with my own controller. I sucked major ass at video games, especially Battle Royale games but he insisted on playing them.

"No, something much worse."

"What could be worse than running away from your family?"

"Asking to hook her up with your only friend," I said.

The game paused just before I could get my first kill and he looked at me.

"She realizes that I'm gay, right?"

"I believe so, yes," I said.

"And that I'm way older than her?"

"She's aware of that." He blinked and stared at me. Just then, my phone rang on the table next to me. I put down the controller to answer. "Speak of the devil," I grunted and hit accept. "Olivia?"

"Cal I need you home. Right now."

"Why? What happened?"

There was a huge bang in the background, which I jumped at. I didn't like the sound of. Either Bas was having a tantrum or Father was very angry. "Now." And she hung up.

________

"Thank you taking me home," I said, smiling gratefully at Quin and leaning in the window of the car.

"No problem, Cal," he replied with a beam. My heart skipped a beat as he flashed me his godly smile. "If you want just give me a call and I can come back and get you. Maybe even your siblings if it's bad."

I smiled gently. "Thank you again."

Once his car was out of sight, I turned to the hellhole that was my home.

As soon as I walked in, all I heard was screaming. Yelling between my sister, my Father, my Mother. I could hear crying from my little brother in another room.

I walked into the room. "What is going on in here?!" I demanded, drawing their attention.

"Why don't you tell him what you're demanding, Father," Olivia spat.

"Olivia Elizabeth you will behave towards your father," my mother scolded.

"He's betrothing all three of us to France!" She screeched, facing me. "Again!"

I stayed silent, raising an eyebrow at our parents.

"Frankly," I said darkly, venom dripping from my words as I spat out the word. Hatred and anger cracked through that one word I spoke. The look that donned my mother's face was familiar, she knew I was about to drop legal points on him. "If I recall I specifically told you that I will not marry a woman, let alone be betrothed to one of your choice. Not only that but per my basic human rights—under your ruling nonetheless—none of us can be forced into marriage by you, no matter what status. Duty or not, we have a choice."

"I am the King," my father hissed angrily. "You will do as I say and—"

"You may be King but we are your children," I reminded sternly, forcing him to draw back. "The Council passed the law that you voted on. You legally cannot do that without our consent."

"I'll have you disowned for th—"

"Bartholomew that is enough," my mother finally said, raising her voice. "I do not want to hear one more word about this out of any of you." He looked between me and my mother, than grumbled something about 'goddamn genetics' and stormed off to his study. My sister disappeared to her room and slammed the door. I was stuck in the room with my mother.

"Your father will come around," she assured. "He's...adjusting."

"To what?" I asked. "There's nothing to adjust to, Mother. Marrying me off to some woman is not going to change me. Just because I am different does not mean he has a right to act like that, especially to his own children!"

She sighed, disdain showing on her face. "Then do not marry a man like him," she said. "It is as simple as that."

______

A few hours later, we were called to the conference room where a guard stood straight and tense.

"Your Majesty, the AWOLs have evaded the manhunt...countless times. They have disappeared and have not been seen for weeks. As well as the woman; we could not capture her."

The tension in the room was thick. My Father's anger was suffocating, the only reason he didn't lash out was because my mother would have his head if he did.

"Father," I said, drawing his attention. "I do not believe the AWOLs will corrupt another Kingdom to attack us. If they are who they identify to be, they will not be able to sit in the presence of the Royal Family anyway." My father didn't reply and just looked around angrily. The air felt heavy.

"I do not believe so either, Bartholomew," my mother said, putting a calming hand on his forearm. "I do not understand why this inconvenience is so particularly upsetting."

My father ignored her. "Double the guards at the borders. No one must leave without us knowing."

"I do not think that is wise, Father," I said.

"We do not have enough guards, your Highness. Shall we continue the hunt?"

"Yes," my father said. "Catch them. I want them locked away."

"Father tha—"

"Those are my final orders," my father said pointedly at me. "I want that Hue especially."

"Father, they just want to leave the city," I protested. "This would not have happened if you did not put a wall around us all and made us feel like caged zoo animals to perform for you!"

"This would have happened anyway!" My father yelled, standing over me. "Hues are overrunning the city, Bluffs are becoming common, and the city is endangered by them!"

"That is not true!" I yelled back, standing to face him. "You are just scared of them because of some false accusations over 60 years ago! You are a just king with an inferiority complex!"

"My own son is taking their side!" My father laughed bitterly, standing directly in front of me. "You are just like your brother—a disappointment and unworthy of being King!"

"If any one is unworthy, it's you!" I yelled in his face. "You're trying to control every single person's life! You're the one violating the Delegation, not me! You're the one bringing the downfall of this country!"

Before anything else could be said, the right side of my face was stinging as I hit the floor and looked up at my father fearfully. The air was extremely heavy, making it hard to breathe.

"Bartholomew!" My mother yelled, standing up and between me and my father. I was choking on the air around me and my face stung like crazy. "Of all people in this family, you are being the most despicable."

The look on my father's face was a mix between shock, fear and anger. I was still on the floor, having trouble breathing. I clutched at my chest, as if pulling on my clothes would relieve it. I watched my father. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed of all air. If I was scared of him before, I was terrified of him now.

My mother crouched, putting her hands on my chest. I felt the burning in my lungs lighten and I took a full deep breath, rolling away from my mother to cough so hard I nearly threw up. With my mother's help, I stood and we exited the room. I looked back at my father, almost paranoid that he'd follow us.


End file.
